Why the Winter Olympics are always held in the Northern Hemisphere

What does Pyeongchang, South Korea have in common with every other city to host the Winter Olympics? It's in the Northern Hemisphere. (AccuWeather)

kfsn

Monday, February 05, 2018

You may not have noticed, but there has never been a Winter Olympics games held in the Southern Hemisphere. Weather climate, geology and seasons are the biggest reason for the northern tilt of the games.

This year's Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, a mountainous region in the northeast part of the country.

Snow is a requirement for the winter games. Much of the Northern Hemisphere's land lies at higher latitudes and there is more land mass, which means the north generally receives more snow than the south, according to AccuWeather. The Southern Hemisphere's lesser land mass allows the climate to be easily influenced by oceans, leading to less consistent weather.

More practically speaking, the Winter Olympics are held every four years in February, which is winter time in the Northern Hemisphere, but summer time in the Southern Hemisphere. Winter sports would be out of season for the Southern Hemisphere during the times when the Winter Olympics are rationally held.